Ernst Exposes True Cost of Taxpayer Subsidies Given to Federal Employee Unions

WASHINGTON – To close out Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of transparency in government, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is introducing the Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Transparency Act to expose just how much federal employee unions are subsidized by tax dollars after the Biden administration stopped publicly releasing the data.

According to the most recent report from 2019, the cost across government was at least $160 million for Taxpayer-Funded Union Time (TFUT), the practice where federal employees negotiate higher salaries and other cushy perks for themselves when they are supposed to be on the clock.

“Bureaucrats have forgotten that they serve the American people not themselves,” said Ernst. “Taxpayers deserve to know just how much of their hard-earned money is footing the bill for the insane practice of taxpayer-funded union time. Once we figure out just how much these unions owe, I will be coming to collect every penny.”

Congressman Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

"Taxpayers shouldn’t pay for empty federal office buildings or for federal employees to unionize on the clock. It’s just common sense — Americans deserve a full, detailed account of how bureaucrats use both their official time and office space for union-related work,” said Congressman Scott Franklin. “This is exactly the kind of waste and abuse my friend, Senator Joni Ernst, and I are fighting to root out alongside the Trump Administration. The President was right to order federal employees back to the office —but if taxpayers are footing the bill, workers must be accountable for how they spend their official time. Our bill will provide critical transparency and expose entrenched bureaucrats who have been skirting these important reporting requirements for far too long."

Click here to view the bill.

Background:

Earlier this month, the Trump administration agreed to a request from Senator Ernst requesting that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) resume tracking and publicly disclosing the total cost of TFUT across government.

In December 2024, Senator Ernst demanded that 24 federal agencies provide data about the true cost of TFUT.

Additionally, Ernst introduced the Protecting Taxpayers’ Wallet Act which requires federal unions to reimburse taxpayers for all costs from taxpayer-funded union time.

Ernst’s investigations previously exposed bureaucrats claiming to be on taxpayer-funded union time while sitting in a jail cell and on permanent vacation in Florida.

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